On their national debut project, It’s About Time (INO Records/Columbia Records), Jonas Brothers’ pop-punk style gives life to uplifting, positive lyrics, showing that this band of brothers – Kevin, Joseph and Nicholas - has more depth than your typical “boy band” and making them more universal than your hard-core punk groups.
In their relatively short lives they have come a long way musically, personally and spiritually – and they’ve done it together, as brothers and band-mates. With numerous live concerts as a trio already under their belts, Jonas Brothers come at their audience with high-energy songs and performances meant to inspire, uplift and entertain.
“We are Italian, we come from New Jersey, and we are proud of it!” says Joseph, 16 (the “joker” of the group according to his brothers). Kevin (18), Joseph, and Nicholas (13) Jonas grew up in a family rich with faith, love and music, which have played a major part in the brothers' lives growing up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Their parents are both musicians - dad Kevin Sr. is also co-founder of Christ For The Nations Music and pastor at a local church - so everyone gathering around the piano for sing-alongs was an essential part of regular family bonding, yet each brother found his own musical calling in a different way.
The oldest, Kevin, who plays guitar and sings vocals, was home sick one day when he found a guitar and a "Teach Yourself Guitar" book lying around the house. "I spent the next three days learning how to play the basic chords," Kevin remembers. "That was about four years ago."
Nicholas, who shares lead vocals with Joseph in the group, began singing as soon as he could talk. "From the time I was two years old, I would wake up in the morning and start singing all the time, every second of the day," he says. His voice, often compared to Stevie Wonder, was "discovered" by singing while getting his hair cut in a local barbershop. He caught the attention of a woman in the shop who immediately referred him to a professional show business manager.
Joseph's original plan, however, was slightly different than his brothers. He first dreamed of becoming a comedian and wanted to audition for sketch comedy shows. "But I was always attached to music and loved listening to different kinds of music, especially rock," he says.
Each brother had already had his own experiences in the spotlight; Nicholas has starred in four Broadway shows including the Tony Award-winning "Les Misérables,” Joseph completed his stint on Broadway in Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” and Kevin has joined his brothers in commercials for Disney, LEGOS and Burger King.
Meanwhile, Daylight/Columbia Records, after hearing Nicholas' incredible voice, began planning a solo record with him. Yet after a spectacular group audition was held for the label, the direction was clear. "All three of us were signed pretty much on the spot as the Jonas Brothers," Kevin says.
For the Jonas boys, the real fun began as they combined their musical abilities to write and record their debut album together, quickly realizing how lucky they were to have each other for both personal and professional inspiration. "It's awesome to have my brothers on stage and in the studio with me," explains Nicholas. "You have a security that everything is going to be okay, even when you mess up."
One thing is for sure - the Jonas Brothers are all ready to keep the momentum going strong. "We go crazy on stage!" says Kevin. "It's so much fun!"
They're all particularly proud of their vocal chemistry as well. "Nicholas is the powerhouse vocal," says Joseph. "He's just got this young, soulful voice that catches everyone's ear."
"Joseph just has this really cool, smooth rock voice," Nicholas points out. "He really knows how to get the crowd going. Kevin is the one that holds us all together. Joseph and I are the singers and we take turns on keyboards, and percussion, but Kevin mostly plays the guitar and that's the part of the group that we need--he's the glue that keeps it together."
Inspiration for the group's songs comes directly from the boys' personal experiences--from the highs and lows of dating to being on the road to having been given the opportunity to follow their dreams at such a young age. The songs also celebrate the joy of living and encourage people to feel good. "The album is meant to get people up and have fun and raise their energy," says Joseph.
As Kevin puts it, "It feels like the most natural thing we could be doing. When we write a song we get in a triangle. I start playing the chords that we've chosen over and over and then we'll keep going around in a circle until we have figured out the lyrics for our song."
Their unique personalities and wide range of musical influences, an eclectic mix of artists ranging from the Ramones to the Jackson 5 – both purveyors of tight, catchy anthems - have created a distinctive and special album.
"We decided to call the album It's About Time," Nicholas reveals, "because so many of our songs seem to deal with different aspects of time." Kevin continues the explanation of the concept, "There's '6 Minutes,' which is about how quickly you can run through the full range of emotions when you feel strongly about someone you just met. There's '7:05,' about etching in your memory the exact time a relationship ended, and, well, the list goes on."
Songs on the album that stand out for the boys include their tune "Time For Me to Fly," a catchy, fast track that is about "following our dream of making music" according to Kevin. "The song is about us working hard, playing music every night and trying to make things happen." “I Am What I am” is about staying true to yourself, while the tender ballad, “Dear God,” is a cry out to God. The song has already reached nationwide success thanks to airplay on the national radio show, “Delilah.”
One of the more personal tracks on the record is the first single, "Mandy," which is about a girl that their mother, a sign language teacher, taught to sign so that she could pursue her dream of working with the hearing impaired. Nicholas, Joseph and Kevin each formed a special friendship with Mandy. "We were writing songs one day and decided we wanted to write about something really nice--so we wrote a song about Mandy," recalls Nicholas. "She's the nicest girl you will ever meet. She knows what you're thinking all the time."
For now, the brothers are just relishing in the experience of having other people hear their music live and making new fans one city at a time while they are on the road. "We've known for a while how it felt to be on stage, but we never knew how it would feel to have people love music that we've written and which we both play and sing. It's very gratifying when fans come up to us after shows and tell us how much they relate to our songs," says Joseph.
Joseph sees them all collaborating for years to come. "We're brothers so it's not like if we got upset at each other that we can be like, 'Well I quit.' They're still my brothers. We love to do this and we know we're going to keep doing for a very long time."
Band Professional Life: 2005 – Present
Band Members:
Kevin Jonas – keys, percussion, guitar, vocals
Joseph Jonas – guitar, vocals
Nicolas Jonas - keys, guitar, drums, vocals
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